Bioarchaeology aids the cultural understanding of six characters in search of their agency (Tarquinia, ninth-seventh century BC, central Italy).

Etruria contained one of the great early urban civilisations in the Italian peninsula during the first millennium BC, much studied from a cultural, humanities-based, perspective, but relatively little with scientific data, and rarely in combination. We have addressed the unusual location of twenty inhumations found in the sacred heart of the Etruscan city of Tarquinia, focusing on six of these as illustrative, contrasting with the typical contemporary cremations found in cemeteries on the edge of the city. The cultural evidence suggests that the six skeletons were also distinctive in their ritualization and memorialisation. Focusing on the six, as a representative sample, the scientific evidence of osteoarchaeology, isotopic compositions, and ancient DNA has established that these appear to show mobility, diversity and violence through an integrated bioarchaeological approach. The combination of multiple lines of evidence makes major strides towards a deeper understanding of the role of these extraordinary individuals in the life of the early city of Etruria.

Risk factors associated with colonic diverticulosis among patients from a defined geographic area.

BACKGROUND: Only a few data regarding colonic diverticulosis are available in Italy. We examined the frequency of colonic diverticulosis and its associations with risk factors in a homogeneous Northern Sardinian population undergoing colonoscopy for any reason in the last decades. METHODS: This was a retrospective single-center study. Medical records of patients undergoing colonoscopy for any indication between 1995 and 2013 were reviewed. Demographic information including age, gender, geographic area (urban, rural), marital status, smoking habit, occupation, body mass index, and comorbidities were collected. Presence, number, and extension of diverticula were assessed by colonoscopy. The diagnosis of diverticulosis was defined by the presence of more than five diverticula. RESULTS: A total of 4458 records were collected (39.8 % males). Analysis by birth cohorts showed a significant progressive age-related increase in the prevalence of diverticulosis. The average prevalence was 18.9 % without significant variation across the 19-year observation period. In 101 (12.1 %) subjects diverticula were single or few. Seventy-one percent of diverticula were located predominantly in the left side, 2 % in the right side, and 14.3 % were spread throughout the colon. There was a significant association with obesity but not with smoking habits, marital status, or urban versus rural environment. A strong association was observed between the presence of diverticulosis and cardiovascular and other gastrointestinal and lung disease (p < 0.0001). These associations were also confirmed by the logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In this endoscopic study, colonic diverticulosis in Northern Sardinia showed prevalence similar to other series in Western countries, and it was predominantly left sided and age related.

Reclamation and agricultural reuse of wastewater: the experience of the Cagliari sewage treatment plant (Sardinia, Italy).

In Sardinia, as in many other Mediterranean regions, recurrent droughts and climate change have dramatically reduced available water resources. As a result of this critical situation, in 1995 the Italian Government declared a state of emergency and drew up a program for financial support by the State and local authorities with the aim of reducing this serious deficit. One of the actions focused on reclaiming and reusing the effluent from the sewage treatment plant of Cagliari. This article reports on the multidisciplinary preliminary study performed by the Ente Acque della Sardegna (ENAS) to evaluate the suitability of reusing Is Arenas effluent for irrigation and on the operation of the tertiary treatment plant.

Carboxyhemoglobin levels in methylene chloride-exposed employees.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a reduction in the permissible exposure limit for methylene chloride from 500 parts per million (ppm) to 25 ppm (8-hour time-weighted average [TWA]). Part of the rationale for lowering the standard is a concern over potentially adverse cardiac effects secondary to elevated carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) levels as a by-product of methylene chloride metabolism. Employees exposed to methylene chloride as part of a triacetate fiber production process had average values of COHb ranging between 1.77% and 4.00% in the nonsmoking group and between 4.95% and 6.35% in a smoking group, with individually measured methylene chloride exposures averaging up to 99 ppm (8-hour TWA). A dose-response effect was seen only in the nonsmoking group. Additional daily cumulative exposure to methylene chloride did not produce increased levels of COHb. Data from this study support the fact that the COHb levels resulting from exposure to methylene chloride at or below the current American College of Government Industrial Hygienists limit of 50 ppm (8-hour TWA) are of a sufficiently low level that they are unlikely to produce adverse cardiac effects in humans.

Beta-endorphin in experimental canine spinal ischemia.

Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid beta-endorphin concentrations were radioimmunologically assayed in dogs subjected to spinal cord ischemia induced by infrarenal aortic ligature and in control sham-operated dogs. Plasma beta-endorphin levels rose significantly following surgery in control dogs but were unaffected by spinal ischemia. On the other hand, a significant increase in cerebrospinal fluid beta-endorphin concentration occurred after spinal ischemia, while surgical stress had no significant effect. Thus, the origins of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid beta-endorphin may be different, with the former secreted from the hypophysis and the latter from nervous tissue. Observed changes in cerebrospinal fluid beta-endorphin concentration could be related to the ischemic lesion of nervous tissue while the changes in plasma levels may reflect general stressing factors such as the surgery in our experiments.

Serum thyroglobulin levels in the diagnosis and follow-up of subacute 'painful' thyroiditis. A sequential study.

Serum thyroglobulin (Tg) levels were elevated in 92% of 38 patients with subacute "painful" thyroiditis in the early stage, independent of the extent of the disease and thyroid hormone concentrations. After two months of corticosteroid treatment, serum Tg levels were significantly decreased in 25 patients who could be rechecked, compared with the levels in the acute phase, although higher than those in our normal control subjects. Twelve of 25 patients underwent sequential measurements of Tg for three to four months, during the disease and after recovery. In ten the initially elevated values decreased rapidly to normal and were maintained for approximately 20 days. Then they rose gradually, peaked about 60 days after disease onset, then returned slowly and permanently to normal. In one patient who had a clinical relapse during the plateau phase, the Tg level also increased markedly and abruptly. Therefore, serial measurements of serum Tg can help in diagnosing and monitoring subacute "painful" thyroiditis.

Serum thyroglobulin in patients with autonomous thyroid nodules.

To investigate further the relationship between thyroid hormones and thyroglobulin (TG) secretion, total and free thyroid hormone levels, TSH and its response to TRH and serum TG concentrations were determined in 61 patients with solitary autonomous thyroid nodules. Thyroid function varied widely from euthyroidism to clearcut thyrotoxicosis. Serum TG levels were significantly higher in patients than in normal controls. Individually they were above the normal range (greater than 50 ng/ml) in 95% of the patients, as well as in those with normal total and/or free thyroid hormone levels. Patients with high total and/or free thyroid hormone levels had higher TG concentrations than euthyroid patients. TG concentrations were significantly correlated with FT3 values. They were higher in patients in whom TSH was unresponsive to TRH than in the responsive groups. TG was also slightly higher in patients with hot nodules than in those with warm nodules. These data seem to indicate that TG is secreted along with thyroid hormones in the absence of any stimulatory action. It also is a sensitive index of thyroid hyperfunction. Twenty patients were controlled 6 months after nodulectomy. TG levels, though significantly lower than in the preoperative state, were still higher than in normal subjects. This increase was attributed to persistent hyperthyroidism in two patients only. The observation that the increase in TSH after TRH stimulation in post-operative patients was greater than that found in normal controls led us to believe that in most cases the high TG levels after surgery are due to stimulation of the normal thyroid tissue by rebound TSH secretion.